


Going My Way

by ZoePlacid



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Airplanes, Airports, Drinking, F/F, Meet-Cute, and how they make her feel sad, au where they never died, or not au because they've never died on the show now either?, tahani pov, there are some mentions of tahani's shitty shitty family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-20 23:10:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13727985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoePlacid/pseuds/ZoePlacid
Summary: Tahani urgently needs to fly to London for…reasons.  Too bad there’s a snowstorm in Chicago and she’s stuck in airport hell with a tiny, obnoxious blonde woman.





	Going My Way

In the American Airlines terminal at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Tahani Al-Jamil stared out of a giant plexiglass window. The sky outside was an aggressive gray (and Tahani, a native Brit, knew just how aggressive a gray could be) and huge wet flakes of snow were falling quickly onto the runways. It was two in the afternoon and so dark it might as well have been six o’clock.

It was January 13 and there was someplace Tahani needed to be by January 14. And due to the aggressively gray, aggressively horrid weather she was most likely not going to get there. 

She had flown to Chicago three days ago for a conference put on by Bill and Melinda Gates (both were, of course, dear friends). The conference was about new and innovative ways of charitable giving—challenging current nonprofits and donors to do more. Tahani had been the keynote speaker on the conference’s second day and her speech had gone, if she did say so herself, rather brilliantly. Her comments were favorably written up in both _The Guardian_ AND _The New York Times_. And after her speech, she had sat in her hotel room last night feeling almost happy. (She may have wondered if her family had read the articles.) But then today, as she was sitting in a panel about funding medical studies for emerging diseases her phone beeped discreetly. And when she checked the text she saw…

Well, she wouldn’t think about that now, the important thing was that she made it to London by tomorrow morning. 

At least the American Airlines Admirals Club here wasn’t _so_ terribly awful. Tahani usually flew by private jet, but the short notice meant that she couldn’t find a friend with a jet to fly her. All _her_ friends with jets were either staying at the conference until Tuesday or were in places other than Chicago in January. A smart choice that Tahani wished she had also made as in the past few days she experienced some of the worst weather in her life and was now stranded under these aggressively gray skies.

Nevertheless, she sat in the faux leather chairs of the Admirals Club and drank an Earl Grey hot toddy and tried to relax. Her good friend Deepak always told her to focus on what was in her control and to accept what wasn’t. And the weather, she supposed, was just one of those things that wasn’t in her purview. 

She was trying to read Zadie Smith’s latest novel (well, not _quite_ her latest because it hadn’t been released yet. Tahani had been given an advanced copy because she and Zadie frequently ran into each other at London parties and Zadie loved Tahani’s sense of style) when she noticed a commotion. Two people were speaking in loud voices that were growing louder.

“Oh, come on, I have a first-class ticket!”

“Ma’am, that is an economy plus fare.”

Tahani turned her head and glanced at the reception counter where the argument was occurring. Given the loudness of the complainer Tahani had been expecting…well, she didn’t know, but definitely not who she saw. The woman’s brash voice issued forth from one of the most petite, white, blonde women that Tahani had ever seen. This person was simply…tiny…and she was holding her ground against the concierge. She had her hands on her hips and didn’t seem at all concerned that she was rapidly causing a scene.

“Buddy, I have been stuck in this airport ALL DAY. There are like five people in here, can’t you just look the other way?”

“No, I cannot. You need to leave.”

“Well, I’m not leaving. And you can either call security and watch me as I TWEET about this IN ALL CAPS. About how you denied me, a pregnant woman, the basic human kindness of waiting in the Admirals lounge in a nearly deserted airport during a snow storm while I’m trying to fly home for my mother’s funeral or you can just leave me alone to drink in peace.”

Tahani doubted that the woman was either pregnant or recently bereaved, and she could tell the concierge doubted it, too, as he sighed loudly and said, “Fine. Whatever.” And stomped off to the back room to do whatever concierges did at a nearly deserted airport.

Taking his sullen words for acquiescence, the tiny blonde bounced on her heels in happiness and took a look around. Tahani quickly returned her eyes to her book, in order to not make it look as though she had been staring. But the woman must’ve seen her because she made a beeline for Tahani, dragging her roller suitcase with her. This suitcase was covered in a tacky hot pink leopard-print pattern that simply astounded Tahani.

The blonde woman sat down in the chair across from Tahani, who was now trying desperately to ignore her.

Nothing was said for a moment and then, “So, I guess you heard all that.”

“I do not know to what you are referring,” Tahani replied.

The woman laughed and said, “Sure you don’t.” There was another long pause as Tahani stared at the words printed in her book and felt the tiny blonde regard her. She was just about to stand up and move seats when the woman asked, “Whatcha reading?”

“Nothing you’ve heard of, I’m sure.”

“Oh, okay. So, you think I’m too stupid to read books?”

“I said nothing of the kind.”

“I mean, you don’t even know me. That’s pretty elitist, Miss Marple,” she groused and then something else seemed to occur to her and she exclaimed, “Ha! Miss Marple—that’s a book! I just made a book reference!”

This woman was quickly irritating Tahani and making her forget her usually excellent manners. She lifted her eyes, gave the woman a once-over, and held up her advanced reader’s copy. “It’s a Zadie Smith novel. And perhaps you _have_ heard of Zadie Smith, although I doubt it, but I know you haven’t heard of this book because it won’t hit the shops until September.”

The woman blinked at all the words Tahani had just thrown at her and said, “You are like…the hottest human I’ve ever seen. I mean, I saw you from across the room and I knew you were good-looking…but up close…”

“What?” Tahani asked, a little flustered.

But before the woman could say anything else, a few burly men in Admirals Club uniforms entered the lounge and grimly started heading in the woman’s direction. She stood up and said, “Sorry gorgeous, I think that’s my cue.” And she started walking towards the men and the exit. A few moments later, Tahani could hear her saying, “Alright, alright, I’m going…no need to call Homeland Security,” as she left the lounge.

A few moments later, Tahani heard an announcement…her flight to London had been cancelled.

*****

Several hours after that odd experience, Tahani stood in line at gate H18 to beg for a seat on another flight. It was an 8:35 PM overnight direct flight, which, if she were lucky, would get in on time to Heathrow at 10:15 in the morning. This would leave her three hours to shower, change, and make the event that she absolutely could not miss.

For some reason, although almost all the other flights at O’Hare had been cancelled today, this flight was still scheduled. The airline employees said that ground control was hoping that the snow was letting up. It seemed as though the odds were 50/50 that this flight would actually take off.

Tahani made her way through the line and stood at the little gate counter. She begged and pleaded with the attendants, throwing all her weight around (along with several name drops and her best doe eyes) and finally, somehow, they found her a seat. It was in… _economy_ (good heavens) but it was a seat nonetheless. As she waited at the gate for boarding she had a hard time imagining what economy could possibly be like. It both horrified her and struck her with fascination that in just 25 minutes she would be riding in it. Well, it would be an experience! Something to laugh about later with Kate and Wills.

As she waited at the gate in one of the most appalling chairs she had ever sat in in her life (there was sticky evidence everywhere that a soda had been spilled) she noticed the blonde woman from earlier sitting three rows over, reading a magazine. Tahani surreptitiously eyed her. She had such a perky, pert look to her—an all-American cheerleader quality that clashed decidedly with her abrasive, brash personality. She was wearing a gray hoodie over a red shirt that was a bit too tight for her and her hair was held up in a messy bun. She idly turned the pages of her magazine and seemed to have not a care in the world.

Tahani envied her a little. Well, not _really_. She was certain this woman’s station in life, one in which she had to sneak into a second-rate airport lounge was infinitely worse than Tahani’s own. Why Tahani, only yesterday, was speaking to world philanthropic leaders! This woman probably did something dreadful like manage a fast food restaurant. But Tahani did envy, just a little, the attitude this woman possessed. A certain carelessness. True, she seemed to be careless about rules and social niceties too—but Tahani envied that in a way, also. As much as Tahani believed in propriety and politeness and a very British “done/not-done” dichotomy—she also found herself longing for things sometimes that were, well…not done. Things like eating a whole box of Jaffa cakes in one sitting. And wearing sneakers instead of dreadfully fashionable but dreadfully painful high heels. Or being alone when she needed to be alone. And perhaps…telling her parents her real feelings when they hurt her time after time after time.

But what was she thinking of! This woman was really…rather ridiculous when not looked at with “grass is always greener” madness. Was she really envying someone because this person felt able to be…rude? How pathetic to envy rudeness! Tahani vowed to forget all about her. Until she boarded the plane, took her seat, closed her eyes, and three minutes later heard a very familiar voice saying, “You’re kidding me!” 

Tahani opened her eyes with a feeling of dread and sure enough the blonde was sitting down in the middle seat right next to Tahani’s window seat.

“So, hot stuff, I guess it’s just you and me. And by the way, my name’s Eleanor.”

Tahani sighed deeply at the curves that fate could through at oneself, but said anyway, “Tahani Al-Jamil. Pleasure to meet you.”

*****

No one ended up sitting in their row’s aisle seat. As their plane left the gate and started taxiing to the runway Tahani kept hoping Eleanor would move one seat over and leave the middle empty like any sane person would, but she never did.

Instead, Eleanor leaned down and dug around in her enormous brown leather purse (it looked unbearably cheap) pulling out gum and weirdly, lollipops, until she triumphantly brandished a Ziploc bag filled with at least a dozen mini-bottles of liquor. 

“Ta da!” she sang, smiling at Tahani.

“So, you keep what appears to be a fully-stocked mini-bar in your purse.”

“Yep,” Eleanor said cheerfully, “I hate flying so I shoved a bunch of these babies in here this morning and it’s your lucky day because you get to share.”

“Well, as tempting as that offer is…no thank you.”

“Are you sure? Because it’s still snowing out there, our plane hasn’t moved in a while despite there being literally no other planes on the tarmac, and god only knows how long we’re going to sit here.”

Tahani looked out of her window. Eleanor was right. There were no other planes. And the snow was falling down harder than it had all day.

“Oh, all right, hand me one of those bloody things.”

Eleanor smiled and gave her a 50 ml bottle of mint schnapps. Tahani drank it in one go and grimaced at the horrid taste.

“Where on earth did you find liquor THAT bad?”

Eleanor shrugged, “It was in a bin marked 59 cents.”

*****

One hour and three tiny bottles later and Tahani was feeling remarkably sanguine about everything. Despite the snow. Despite the grumbling of the other passengers. Despite a small child screaming its bloody head off three rows back. And despite the Captain coming over the loudspeaker to announce that while the snow had stopped for now and they were plowing the runway, he was still slightly doubtful that conditions would be safe enough to take flight.

“Folks, although there’s a good chance that we will be cleared for takeoff, let’s be prepared if we need to taxi back to the airport. Once again, thank you for your patience and thanks to this great flight crew.” 

As he signed off, Tahani could hear about a dozen different people in the rows around them complain, “Why did they even board this plane if there’s no chance we’re going to fly?“ someone asked.

“They like to torture us,” someone else replied.

“Can someone shut that baby up?” Another person muttered.

Eleanor handed Tahani another bottle. It was a miniature vial of Chambord.

“Oh, look!” Tahani exclaimed in delight, “It’s so cute!”

Eleanor laughed and slugged back her little bottle of tequila.

Tahani stared at her. Somehow, it had taken her ages to realize just how beautiful Eleanor was. So cute in her petite little frame. 

“You’re cute, you know,” Tahani told her now, all inhibitions abandoned a bottle ago.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow and smiled. And before she knew what she was doing, Tahani reached out and gently pressed a finger to the tip of Eleanor’s nose.

“Boop!” she said as Eleanor’s eyebrows now seemed about ready to lift off her head.

“Did you just ‘boop’ me?”

“I did!” Tahani felt vaguely like something had gotten bollocksed up somewhere, somehow. She didn’t think she was normally the type of person who ‘booped’ strange women on the nose. This whole day was steadily feeling more unreal. Was she really sitting in _coach_ on a snowy tarmac, getting drunk with a woman who earlier told Tahani that she was from _Phoenix, Arizona_? 

Eleanor moved past the booping incident and said, “So, you never said why you’re on this flight.”

“Well…to go home, obviously. I thought that would be apparent from my accent.”

“Hmm. No. If you were just going home you would wait a day or two until the snow had cleared. You don’t strike me as someone who couldn’t afford an extra night in a hotel.”

Tahani looked away from Eleanor as she thought of something to say. Eventually all she could come up with was, “Well, why are _you_ on this flight?”

“I won a trip,” Eleanor said proudly.

“What, like a sweepstakes?

“Nope. You’re looking at the top seller of NasaPro in the Western Region of the United States. I got this trip to Europe because my office thinks I’m awesome.”

“NasaPro? What’s that?”

Tahani noted with a little bit of satisfaction that now Eleanor was the one looking slightly uncomfortable.

“Oh, it’s a medicine for old people. It doesn’t…really do anything, but it’s harmless…at least I think it is.”

“You _think_?”

“Oh, don’t give me that shocked and appalled look, Beautiful—you don’t really care what I do.”

“Of course I care. I try to care about everything. Do you know, Eleanor, what it is that _I_ do?”

“I’m sure you’re gonna tell me.”

“I raise money--enormous sums of money--for charity. I personally raised 20 billion dollars last year to help people all over the world.”

“Okay.”

Tahani was a bit hurt by this lack of response, “Well, aren’t you impressed? Don’t you think that that’s simply marvelous? And that _I_ am simply marvelous?”

“Not really. I think you’re incredibly hot, but how would I know if you were ‘marvelous’?” she said, saying the last word in a terrible imitation British accent.

“Well, objectively I am marvelous because I did all that good work. I raised all that money.”

Eleanor shrugged. Perhaps it was the alcohol but Tahani was growing incensed, “No, but I am! I was on the cover of three magazines last year! I was called an “ethereal Mother Teresa” by _Vanity Fair_!”

“Okay, so you’re great. But why does it matter so much what I, a nobody from Arizona thinks about you?”

Her words registered and Tahani realized how ridiculous she sounded. Why did it matter so much to her to always impress everyone she met? Eleanor had some of the most questionable ethics of anyone she had ever come across—what could her opinion of Tahani’s character possibly be worth?

“You’re right. It shouldn’t matter, but it does,” Tahani drank her Chambord and Eleanor pulled a teeny Grand Marnier out of her Ziploc bag. 

Tahani said reluctantly, “Everyone’s opinion matters. I worry about what random strangers I pass by on the street think of me, my inner monologue is just a constant stream of, “Is my hair cascading beautifully enough? Did I get lost in my thoughts and frown at someone? Will they think I’m unbearably haughty?”

“Well, the answer is ‘yes’ to that last one,” Eleanor joked, but she was smiling in an almost nice way. 

*****

Another hour later and their plane still hadn’t moved. The Captain hadn’t made an announcement in ages and the flight crew was now coming down the aisle with the drink cart to pacify everyone.

“Ooh, I hope they have beer on that cart,” Eleanor said when it was about 10 rows ahead of them.

Tahani was hoping to get a glass of water. She couldn’t remember the last time she had drunk so much and was beginning to feel like it may have been a mistake to have that last bottle of Bacardi.

“How on earth aren’t you more drunk than me? You had twice what I had!” she said now to Eleanor.

“Well, my tolerance maaaaay be a bit higher than yours.”

“I knew it. You’re a—a—binge drinker!” 

Eleanor laughed, “I’m just, you know, a drinker.”

Tahani checked her watch and suddenly felt unbearably sad. If the plane didn’t leave in forty-five minutes she would never make it there on time. She felt like crying and instead leaned down and rested her head on Eleanor’s tiny shoulder.

“Whoa, hey there, hot stuff, you okay?” Eleanor’s hand reached up to pat Tahani’s hair awkwardly.

Tahani felt dangerously close to tears. And she wasn’t about to cry in _coach_ on a _commercial_ airliner.

“I’m fine,” she squeaked out. She could feel Eleanor looking at her and knew she should really move her head from Eleanor’s shoulder but she didn’t.

“You’re sad because you’re going to miss whatever it is that you need to do,” Eleanor guessed.

Tahani nodded and sniffed a bit.

“Could you just tell me what the fuck this mysterious thing is? Do you need a kidney? Are you kidnapping someone? Like, what is it?”

It was so embarrassing and somehow…shameful…even though it was nothing she could control. She didn’t want to talk about it, but she also felt like she couldn’t stop thinking about it, so it might as well be shared with this trashy blonde person. 

She lifted her head from Eleanor’s shoulder and said heavily, “My sister is getting married tomorrow.”

“Oh…Okay. And you’re sad because…wait, let me guess. You boinked the groom? You’re pregnant with the groom’s baby? Or, ooh ooh I know! Your sister stole _him_ from _you_!”

“No! None of that. This isn’t some horrible American talk show like Jerry Springer. And there isn’t a groom. My sister Kamilah is marrying a woman.”

“Oh…are you some kind of lame religious freak? And two women marrying upsets you or something?”

“No! Honestly!” Tahani was beginning to feel a bit anticlimactic because the truth was nowhere near as dramatic as the things Eleanor was guessing. The truth was small and pitiful.

“I’m…well, I’m not upset per se, but I’m a little hurt because…they forgot to tell me.”

“Huh?”

“My sister and my parents and well, everyone, forgot to tell me that Kamilah was getting married. They forgot to invite me, too, as it happens. Until this morning.”

“Your family…forgot to tell you about a family wedding?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have like 12 brothers and sisters and something just got lost in the shuffle?”

“No, no it’s just me and Kamilah.”

“Are you like, estranged from your family?”

“No, I talk to them all the time.” She was always calling them to talk about her latest charity work. Always sending them press clippings. It was pathetic and simultaneously never enough.

Eleanor was just kind of staring at her now which was making Tahani feel nervous so she started babbling some more, “And well, I only found out this morning so I could only book the flight today. And because of this snowstorm I probably won’t make it. And my parents will be so disappointed in me. It will look so bad, you see—it will look so bad to the outside world that I wasn’t there. It may appear as if my sister and I don’t get along.”

That’s what her parents would say, Tahani, thought, although probably very few people would even notice that she wasn’t there.

“But…” Eleanor was saying, “But it’s their fault that you couldn’t be there. They forgot to tell you.”

“I know, but they won’t see it that way.”

“Well, screw them then.”

Tahani laughed and to her horror realized that she was brushing tears out of her eyes.

Eleanor spoke, “I don’t know why I care or whatever, but you’re really hot and I’m kind of hoping we can get something going in the bathroom if this flight ever takes off,” Tahani started—had she just heard that right? But Eleanor was continuing as though she had said nothing remarkable, “So I’m going to tell you something about me. I had THE WORST parents in the world. Like, ‘fall down drunk, let’s do meth for fun this weekend, do you remember where we put the kid?’ kind of parents. They never gave a shit about me and I had to take care of them. I was cleaning up their vomit when I was eight.”

“Oh—I’m so sorry, Elean—”

Eleanor held up a hand to interrupt her sympathy, “So I decided when I was 14 that I was done. I got a couple of jobs and saved up a bunch of money and emancipated myself when I was 15. I was not going to let two losers who didn’t love me use me for the rest of my life.”

“That’s…that’s…” Tahani didn’t know what to say. Finally she just sighed, “That’s awful. Alone when you were 15—that sounds unbearably lonely.”

Eleanor shook her head, “No, it wasn’t awful. Because I left them. I never gave in to one more whining request or demand of theirs. I walked away. And I kind of think…that that’s what you need to do, too.”

Tahani stared at her. She simultaneously wished she was both a little drunker and a little more sober for this conversation. Before she could think of a reply, the Captain’s familiar drawl came on over the loudspeakers, “Welllll, okay folks, I’m sorry to say that we’re being called back to the gate.” The entire flight groaned. Some male voice shouted, “Are you KIDDING me?”

The Captain continued, “They can’t clear the runways completely so they’re cancelling the remaining flights this evening. I’m sorry for the inconvenience and on behalf of myself and our flight crew I hope you’re able to get some sleep somewhere tonight. There are a number of hotels in the area and there will be staff members to assist you in finding a room if that’s what you choose to do.”

The plane began slowly moving for the first time in hours. Suddenly, Tahani felt uncomfortably awkward to be sitting here, drunk, spilling her deepest shame to this Arizona stranger.

“Well, I guess you’re going to miss that wedding and now there’s no chance for us to join the mile-high club together.”

Tahani sputtered, “Are you—you can’t possibly—”

Eleanor grinned and seemed to take pity on her, “Are you even sadder now that you know you’re going to miss your shitty sister’s wedding for sure?”

Tahani tried to analyze her feelings. She felt numb, to be honest. Perhaps in the morning it would all hit her again, and she was dreading the conversations she would have with her parents, but right now she was just tired. She wanted a brandy and a shower and a night’s rest in a comfortable bed.

“Oh, I don’t know what I feel. How about you? Are you sad your trip’s postponed?”

“Eh, it more sucks that I have to spend the night in the airport, but I’ll hang out in the airport bar, get sloshed, and I’m sure I can find a flight tomorrow.”

“Aren’t you going to find a hotel?”

“Nope, no money. The trip I won doesn’t cover stuff like that. Just the hotel when I finally get to London.”

The plane pulled into the gate and Tahani thought about her black Amex card sitting in her wallet. She could afford anything.

The plane stopped and everyone immediately began pulling their things out of the overhead bins, grumbling the whole time. As the rows ahead of them began to empty Tahani said something before she could think better of it, “Did you know that there is a hotel attached to this airport?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to get a drink with me in the hotel bar?”

Eleanor smiled and said, “Sure, gorgeous.”

*****

One hour later, sitting in the airport Hilton, Tahani felt better than she had in a long while. She had moved on from brandy and was now drinking chamomile tea and trying to feel sleepy (she felt rather disturbingly awake). This bar wasn’t a bad place, either. A little gauche, as it was trying to imitate an old speakeasy, but it was also wood paneled and cozy and had low-lit gas lamps filling the place with soft light. Tahani and Eleanor sat next to one another at the bar, with their bodies angled toward each other. Every so often Eleanor’s knee would knock gently into Tahani’s. The lighting or the late hour made Eleanor look soft, and her eyes seemed kinder than before. It was nearly midnight and Eleanor had spent some time telling Tahani amusing and awful stories of the shenanigans she and her roommates got up to in Arizona. 

“But that’s appalling!” Tahani exclaimed as Eleanor finished a story about pretending to have a terminal illness in order to skip the lines at Disneyland. Eleanor, as she was wont to do, merely shrugged, “Hey, don’t knock it till you try it.”

There was a pause. A silence that wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but it made Tahani think of the late hour and how she should really check into her room and get some sleep. Weirdly, as disastrous as this day had been, and as different as Eleanor was to the people she usually associated with, Tahani almost didn’t want this day to end. 

Eleanor spoke, “So, can I ask you a question?” she said slowly. It sounded to Tahani as though she were choosing her words carefully which was strange for Eleanor.

“Of course.”

“Did you ever—or have you ever---been with a woman?”

“Oh!”

“I mean, like sexually.”

“Yes, I gathered that.”

“Well, have you?”

Tahani didn’t know what to say. The truth was she hadn’t had as many lovers of any sex as most people assumed. She knew she was considered good-looking and many people had propositioned her, but most of them weren’t what she wanted at the time. They wanted her because of how she looked or because of who her sister was or because of how many times she was photographed in the _Tatler_. They wanted her for all the things she appeared to be. And it was odd, because she did work so hard to appear to be those things! but when someone wanted her because of them…it left her feeling cold. She had never slept with a woman and she had only slept with a handful of men. And none of those encounters had been entirely satisfactory.

“I—well, I don’t know—have _you_?” she asked, throwing it back to Eleanor.

“Yep,” Eleanor nodded with a gleam in her eye. And Tahani felt so stupid because of course she had. The woman had been flirting with her for hours, for heaven’s sake!

Because, yes, that’s what this had been all evening. Flirtation. It had taken Tahani a while to realize it, but Eleanor wanted her. 

It caused such a flood of feelings that Tahani didn’t know what to do. She glanced away from Eleanor and looked at her tea. Her face felt warm with embarrassment and pleasure. She felt absurdly flattered. She had literally cried on this woman’s shoulder and told her how her family viewed her as a cumbersome footnote, and Eleanor still wanted her. 

She lifted her eyes and looked at Eleanor again, “I’ve only ever been with five people and they were all men.”

Eleanor raised her eyebrows, “You?! Just five?”

Tahani smiled, “Well, yes, but one of them _may_ have been Ryan Gosling.”

Eleanor gave a low whistle and said, “Really? Hmm. Well, how was he?”

“A lady never kiss and tells.”

“That bad, huh?”

Tahani sputtered a laugh, “No! I’m just being discreet.”

Eleanor grew serious again, “Well, have you ever considered it, you know, with a woman? Has it ever crossed your mind?”

Tahani looked at Eleanor’s eyes. And glanced at Eleanor’s lips, “Well, it might have done.”

Eleanor smiled, “What would you say to taking me back to your hotel room? And I’m not just saying that because otherwise I would have to sleep on the floor behind Gate K23.”

Tahani laughed in exasperation, “Oh, Eleanor do be serious.”

“I am. Well, I mostly am. But now I am seriously saying that if you wanted, we could go to your hotel room and see what happens.”

Tahani considered it. She very seriously considered it. It might be wonderful. It might be awkward. But she was still half-drunk. And if she let herself think about Kamilah’s wedding and her forgotten invitation she still felt as if she would burst into tears. So she told Eleanor: “It probably isn’t a good idea. Not today.”

Eleanor nodded as if to say, “No harm done” and then she said, “I gotcha. I understand.” She took a pen from her purse and wrote something down on a bar coaster and pushed it towards Tahani.

“That’s my number. Call me if you’re ever in Phoenix, which you probably never will be.” She smiled and then leaned in to kiss Tahani on the cheek, “Well, it’s been real, hot stuff.”

Tahani smiled at her and suddenly felt very lonely. Eleanor turned to go and then turned back to look Tahani in the eyes, “One thing though. Don’t feel bad, okay? Well, I mean don’t feel bad about _yourself_ , cause it’s pretty much impossible to not feel bad with a family as shitty as yours. But you’re really hot and you should know that you deserve better than them.”

It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. She watched Eleanor move through the bar to the exit. She was still dragging that horrible pink leopard-print suitcase with her. The same one that Tahani had first noticed in the Admirals Club hours and ages ago. Tahani suddenly felt overwhelmingly fond of Eleanor and her bad taste.

“Wait!” she cried out before Eleanor left the bar.

Eleanor paused and turned back around, “Yeah?”

Tahani walked up to her. The only other people in this place right now were the bartender and an elderly couple staring dejectedly into their gin and tonics. No one was really paying attention but Tahani still felt nervous as she reached for Eleanor’s hand and held it.

“It’s been such a horrible day and I already booked the largest king-sized bed that this hotel had to offer.”

Eleanor smiled, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying, you hot, incredibly tall Rapunzel?”

“I’m saying…” Tahani said, feeling her way through the words, “Spend the night in my hotel room…just to sleep,” she emphasized.

“Yeah, really?” Eleanor sighed, “That would be great, actually. I’ve been up since like 4 AM Central Time.”

Tahani grabbed her Louis Vuitton bag and they made their way through the hotel. This was probably a terrible mistake. Tahani never did things like this. Maybe this was all a weird ploy that Eleanor had to steal Tahani’s luggage and she would wake up the next morning alone and robbed.

But as they silently changed into their pajamas and as Tahani sat in the bed listening to Eleanor brush her teeth, she felt that no matter what happened tomorrow she was glad she wasn’t alone tonight. She always, always felt alone. But now in this moment she felt…well, whatever the opposite of alone was. She supposed she felt like she had a friend. A pert-nosed blonde friend who came out of the bathroom wearing a tight t-shirt and pajama shorts, looking unbearably cute.

Eleanor crawled into bed with Tahani and then, rolled over and snuggled into Tahani’s side.

“Goodnight, gorgeous,” Eleanor said sleepily.

Tahani didn’t know what to do with any of this experience, so she giggled a little and reached over to turn out the light. It was dark now and Eleanor was a warm presence against her. Tahani leaned over to whisper into Eleanor’s ear, “Good night.”

She may have also kissed Eleanor’s cheek. And her forehead. Eleanor sighed happily and snuggled a bit closer.

Tomorrow would bring more airports, and more flight delays and then finally, Tahani’s arrival in London a day too late. But tonight. Tonight Tahani was sleeping next to a friend. And she felt okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in a few years and this is unbeta'd so I'm sorry for any mistakes/problems etc. I think Eleanor is probably a bit out of character and too nice in this story, but I like to think it's because she's trying to land Tahani the whole time.


End file.
